[lug] Protecting Media Computer

[Dan Ferris]

Read only mounted filesystems are your friend. :)

On 12/12/2010 11:42 PM, Paul E Condon wrote:
> On 20101212_220354, Bruce Long wrote:
>> I have a media computer that has all our movies, music, etc. on it. I have
>> XBMC but often we need to exit and use the Ubuntu system underneath for file
>> browsing, internet surfing, etc.
>>
>> Lately, I've had the problem of our 3 year old experimenting with mouse
>> clicks and pop-up menus and I'm reminded of the three-year-old in the news a
>> year or so back that clicked around on eBay and purchased a steam-roller
>> from Australia while her parents slept.
>>
>> Before I try the obvious solutions, do any of you have any tips for this
>> kind of thing? I can't just hide the mouse because the kids use the system
>> for educational software and select their own movies/music when allowed to.
> Buy a used Mac from the MacShack. Or cadge an old computer from a
> friend, and put Ubuntu on it. But don't try to out guess a 3yo. A 3yo
> can do a lot of damage to a file system as well as to your
> finances. Put the computer on a kids' height table. Set the media
> computer to automatically shut down on a timeout, in case you
> forget. You know after 3yrs (+9mo) that being a parent is a new and
> different life, like the latches on the lower cabinet doors in the
> kitchen. Each new challenge is a joy. Really. Lots of good, free web
> sites for kids. A whole new set of cookies should be on a different
> computer so that they don't bias what is displayed on your computer.
>
> HTH